Piper's Essay 'A Is For Absent' By Chris Piper

Education is a long-term investment. We, as students, work hard to acquire knowledge and to hone our skills so that we may use them one day. The effort we put into a single assignment should be considered as both for that specific assignment and for our rounding as complete, educated individuals. And with this mindset, students should be motivated even more to put more effort and hard work into academics, with the goal of bettering themselves for the future and advancing their prospects as individuals. And with this hard work and effort will come progress, and this progress should be reflected in the grading—not necessarily on individual assignments, but on the student’s education as a

Staples argues, “Departments shower students with A’s to fill poorly attended courses that might otherwise be canceled.” By arguing this way, Staples suggests the only option professors have in order to not have class cancelations is inflation of grades. This argument ignores the possibility of classes being very specific for one major and good grades being a result of students who are invested in the class and the major that requires the class. General education classes are going to have high a number of students because they are required for all students; however, very specific classes, such as sculpting which is a requirement for art majors, are going to have a lower number of students because only some students need the class. Staples also ignores the possibility that good grades are a result of students who are dedicated to those very specific classes for their major. The either-or argument Staples makes is the opposite of effective because he chose to ignore real possibilities that do not help his

As students were forced into their growth of knowledge in elementary school and middle school by continuously being taught basics, in order to prepare them for high school and beyond, they get to gain their freedom and decide whether or not they want to meet their teachers’ marks in high school. Throughout the school year, there comes a time where students have to sign up for classes. By having this choice, students can decide on how they want to challenge themselves in the next school year. During my two and a half years of high school that I have conquered so far, I learned that in a classroom setting there are students who take advanced courses, enjoy the subjects that they chose to take, and try their best to get the best grades that they can receive, in order to prepare them for their future in adulthood. However, there are also students who do not try or realize the importance of the free education given to them because they do not have an interest in the subjects that teachers are teaching them or are just being forced by their students to attend school. Some teachers try their best to bring out the motivation in these students who do not yet see that education is power and freedom, but there are also teachers who ignore these helpless students that are blinded by the present things that affect them like popularity or living with the motto that “you only live once”, because these teachers do not have the inspiration in the

It is suggested by data from NAEP testing that school absences is one of the factors that has a negative impact on student learning and therefore on overall grade point average and test scores. In a table that shows the coloration of school days missed with the percent of student with a 3.0 of higher grade point average, in the Sioux Falls school district in South Dakota, data suggests that as

Not only could grades improve, but so would the school's attendance record. Mr. Principal, students are more willing to come to class if there is something to look forward to. Instead of school being boring and torturous, it could be viewed as an opportunity to put the skills learned in their Critical Thinking class to the test. There would also be less problems waking up and therefore making it to class on time. No more napping in class, instead students would be note-taking and teachers would see the increased enthusiasm in their class. The teachers would be motivated to work even harder to teach their students all they can. Why would teachers want to teach if they know that the students couldn't care less? If teachers see students participating and not acting out then they would also be motivated to help the students learn even more than what is specified in the curriculum. Regular and advanced students would surpass any of the other schools. The school would work at least ten times more efficiently and productively. Everyone would be enthusiastic and successful in school. Mr. Principal if adding a class could determine whether your school is average or above average, would you take the chance?

Building in-class continuity will help prepare young adults for the work world and requiring class attendance will help develop students for a thriving career. Fortunately, in grade school you are required to go to school. If you don’t there will be some form of consequences. However, once students enter college they now have the choice of attending class, thus, teaching inconsistency. Doing so holds back other students in the class

The children of the world are our future and we as a whole need to be sure that they are prepared for such a large task. The world requires that the children are able to read, write and have basic math skills in order to get through life, and be a part of society. This is a job that will become too large if it is not started and mastered in the early learning years. There are many children that are in the fourth and fifth grade who are not able to read or write at their grade level or even close to grade level. The teachers of these students have really let these students down by allowing them

In so that “Nobody Has to Go to School If They Don’t Want To”, Roger Sipher argues that if compulsory attendance rules were abolished students who actually wanted to learn in school would receive the education they deserve. In the beginning, Sipher points out that “the decline in standardized test scores is an indicator that American education in in trouble.” He states one reason for the crisis is that “the mandatory attendance laws force many kids to attend school that don’t even wish to be there.” These students have no desire to learn; therefore, they do not get an education and they distract the students who want to learn from doing so. In his view, without compulsory attendance laws public schools would be able to eliminate the students whose behavior is negatively affecting the mission of the educational institute. In addition, Sipher notes that since students know they are going to be passed from grade to grade until they are old enough to drop out, or graduate; they fail to do their homework and receiving low grades does not motivate them to want to learn. In his opinion, there certainly would be a lot of positive changes to the education system by abolishing the attendance laws. In the end, Sipher says that schools should be for education and right now, they

No extra credit would be giving to substitute for poor performance or to increase grades.

Grading a student on participate gives the students the impression that they will do well by just showing up to the lecture which is only one of the problems with graded attendance. A student’s final grade should reflect their overall knowledge and understanding of the material, not their ability to show up to every single class. An article published in 2007 in Bloomberg BusinessWeek called “Treating College Kids Like School Children,” suggests this kind of liability is irrelevant and not necessary. The article goes on and states “Today’s students will increasingly be measured and rewarded by how they perform and what they create, not whether they keep a seat warm at some meeting they’d rather skip,” wrote Stephen Baker in the technology section of the magazine. Being absent from a day of class and missing out on information that may or not be on a test does not determine our overall knowledge of material.

In the article “School Suspensions: Pros, Cons, and Ways to Improve”, it says a con is that the students don’t receive the day’s class work and will miss the lessons during class. Hearing someone explain something confusing and complicated will help them remember the correct way. All they get is a written explanation that can get confusing and they will end up doing the work wrong because they couldn’t get the right explanation of what to do. Even though most students do keep up with their work when they get suspensions, others think that it’s like a vacation from school and they don’t do their work on time or don’t do it correctly. The students’ education shouldn’t be affected even if they did break the rules, their lessons and classes are too important to miss that much

I realize that I haven’t always done my work like I’ve been doing recently, but I believe everyone deserves a second chance to bounce back from an atrocious situation. How would you know if a student is dealing with personal issues at home and can’t concentrate in school ? or what if a student cannot comprehend the subject being taught in class ? I have no doubts that a pupil who gives effort to change their grade should be granted their wish. Today

287). Even though these factors inevitably affect students, they cannot be reasons to accept poor attendance. Letting a student pass a class or even graduate with a low percentage of attendee in a school year will affect the student in their future education. This will eventually contribute to the stress already developed in a student’s life. Students need to learn to cope with painful personal events and keep up with their responsibilities as students in order to become strong independent

     Grade retention, better known as “staying back”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the topic of much debate within the educational system. The controversy which surrounds this long-standing issue has been reinforced by such topics as the recent endorsement of academic standards. Research indicates that “the rate of retention has increased by approximately 40% in the last 20 years with as many as 15% of all American students held back each year and 30-50% held back at least once before ninth grade” (Dawson, 1998). These discouraging statistics pose copious problems within a school system. The difficulties can be appreciated at the organizational level, as well as inside the classroom and, most

Over decades now, cash has been used as an incentive for good grades. This deed may seem unjust, but has worked its way up until the twenty-first century. These acts should come to a complete stop because, education in America has not been as crucial as in other countries. Harvard study shows that almost all minority children who have been suspended before, did better when they were given incentives, even though the sample only ranged from five-hundred kids. Some of the students do not have the desire of pursuing a prestigious career because it can be hard to undergo or it may take a lot of time. However, a lot of students are not considering the importance of education now that is where people believe that cash for good grades will eliminate the problem. Although, many others believe that cash is just use an incentive and it will spoil the student’s attitude toward education.